We're mere days away from the event that many Pretty Little Liars fans had feared would never arrive until the final episode of this ABC Family drama:

A will be revealed on Monday's season two finale.

How and why did the series decide to unravel this mystery after two seasons of suspense?

"There have been ongoing discussions since the start of the show," producer Lisa Cochran-Neilan just told me over the phone. "You can't hold this kind of information back forever. It's important to pay homage to our fans and give them what they've been dying for."

Naturally, Cochran-Neilan wouldn't say a word about the identity of A, but she did acknowledge that the final decision changed many times over the course of the series.

"There's a map writers can always look at," she said. "And the fun part has been creating many paths to A and someone being able to check the map and be sure it all makes sense."

The finale will touch on the relationships in which fans are invested, but Cochran-Neilan said the crux of the episode will be the four girls and "the trap they've been stuck in" all this time.

How will they escape it? What will be the next mystery that leads us in to season three? Read over our latest PLL review and debate these questions with fellow fans now!

NOTE: Follow Cochran-Neilan on Twitter for the latest Pretty Little Liars scoop!

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.